The State of Asian Cities 2010/11 | 1st UN Report on Asian Cities (original) (raw)
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The sustained economic growth of Asian economies in recent decades has brought into focus the important role played by cities. The first-ever United Nations report on The State of Asian Cities 2010/2011 shows that they have led a unique transformation that is characterized by explosive demographic expansion, economic dynamism, local and national development and reduction of overall poverty in the region. But unprecedented challenges remain, warns Bharat Dahiya, including growing urban poverty and inequality, environmental management, disaster risks and climate change, urban and regional planning and development, finance and governance.
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This paper is a summary and update, where feasible, of the United Nations first-ever report on The State of Asian Cities 2010/11. With 42% of its population in cities in 2010, Asia is urbanising rapidly; its cities are highly productive and generate an estimated 80% of the region’s GDP. Despite the sustained economic growth of Asian economies in the recent decades, urban poverty, inequality, slums, poor urban environmental quality and liveablity, worsening disaster risks and effects of climate change pose major development challenges. While decentralization has helped widen the scope of urban governance, greater attention is needed to enhancing transparency and accountability in decision-making, planning and governance of smaller cities and towns, infrastructure investments, and city-to-city learning.
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Future Challenges of Cities in Asia
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The ten essays in Future Challenges of Cities in Asia engage with some of the most critical urban questions of the near future across Asia. These comprise socio-economic and cultural transitions as a result of urbanization; environmental challenges, especially questions of climate change, natural disasters, and environmental justice; and the challenges of urban infrastructure, built form, and new emerging types of urban settlements. The essays demonstrate that it is increasingly difficult to conceptualize the ‘urban’ as one particular type of settlement. Rather, it would be more accurate to say that the ‘urban’ characterizes a global transition in the way we are beginning to think about settlements. This book is of interest not only to researchers interested in comparative and inter-disciplinary research, but also to urban practitioners more broadly, illustrating through concrete cases the challenges that urban regions in Asia and beyond are facing, and the various opportunities tha...